soup, the wonder food

If you're observant, you'll notice that this week's (or, more accurately, last week's) recipe and posts are coming a wee bit late.  Let me assure you that we have a most legitimate, albeit unusual, excuse: an October snowstorm and a subsequent 4 days without electricity.  We really were quite blessed to have a generator providing us with power and heat for most of that time.  But internet access wasn't possible.  So, the blog was put on hold while we attended to some of the more-important, less-technology-driven details of life: first-time sled rides for our favorite little boy, late night chats by candlelight, laughter-filled photo-taking sessions, sketching, reading, and yard work (tres importante when this freak-snowstorm sent dozens upon dozens of large, heavy, leaf-laden branches crashing all over one's yard).

But, I digress.  You have the excuse for our tardiness.  Now for the post, which I began pre-power-outage and concluded once the lights, glorious lights, returned.  Here you have it...

Well, is it obvious by now that we love curry?  I looked back and realized that nearly an eighth of all our recipes are curry-based.  Sorry to you curry-haters out there.  I suppose that it's not very diversified of us to be so heavy-handed in the curry department, but as I stated in my last post, "Curry makes any dinner into a celebration, if you ask me."  So, celebrate we did...with a giant pot of steamy, curried split pea soup.  It was delightful and well-worth the stink that ensued from the large quantities of spices and onions that were fried up for said soup.  If I had my way, the house would always smell like fresh fall breezes and mulled cider and other such lovely things.  Of course, cooking kind of gets in the way of that.  And, I value the importance of eating enough to sacrifice my desires.  Isn't that just oh-so-selfless of me?

If you don't like curry (and my attempts at humor haven't been enough to keep you entertained), you've probably stopped reading by now.  But, if you are still around and do love curry, this soup is a must-try.  Perfect for these cool (sometimes rainy, and sometimes even snowy!) fall days that we've been having here in New England.  It's one of those recipes that provides tons of flavor for minimal work.  And I'd say that's just about the best kind of recipe, wouldn't you? 

Of course, this recipe is also a soup, and I rate the soup category at the absolute top of my list, even above appetizers and desserts (two almost-equally-superior food categories).  Fall and winter are soup seasons, so do yourself a favor and whip up some soup.  I would highly recommend that you make this particular curried soup, but even if you ignore my suggestions, you owe it to yourself to make some sort of soup.  During the power outage I found myself picking up lots of magazines and books and newspapers, and reading little snippets here and there to pass the time. One of the articles in one of these magazines caught my eye when it mentioned a restaurant in Montpelier, Vermont that specializes in soups.  According to the article, "[Owner,] Pam Root believes that everyone would be healthier and happier if they ate soup every day."*  When I read this, I felt as if I were reading my own personal mantra.  I adore soup.  Unlike this Pam Root, however, I don't actually eat it everyday.  But, if I had the time to cook a new pot of soup each day, I most certainly would.

And, lest we forget, this recipe is vegan too.  Amazing, tasty, and vegan.  Speaking of which, I have a lot of thoughts about our adventures in veganism, but I will save them for later in the week when we post our final vegan recipe.  Perhaps the suspense will be enough to drive you to make this soup.  Or any soup, if you really must.  Just do it.  Make some soup and revel in the fact that soup season is here, in all its crispness and leaf-crunching-ness and lack of electrical-ness.  Well, don't exactly revel in that last one.  But, if you do happen to lose power like we Yankees here in New England, soup will see you through.  It's just that good.

*Quote from:
Melissa Pasanen, Kim Asch, Kathryn Flagg and Sky Barsch. "Restaurants to Enjoy." Vermont Life Autumn 2011